We went from nothing to simple millionaires in 40 years by going to work and saving our money! It took us a long time with plenty of ups and downs but with the wealth of knowledge available today YOUR rich can be done even faster.
Can you remember a time when you earned (first job, first career, extra cash), won (Bingo, Jackpot, Contests etc.) or was given money? I can.
Perhaps you can recall the feeling that electrified throughout your body as if you had just eaten the biggest most delicious dessert in the world. (that would be brownies for me) Some may describe it as a money high filled with excitement or thrills that lasts until you do something with that money.
It’s almost as if a bit of stress is allowed to fall from your shoulders depending on the situation it is feeding. This is the feeling you want to have every day and it’s called financial peace. In order to get to this point you have to train your brain to think rich.
This type of mindful financial education comes with a full buffet of rules set out by YOU.Every dollar we earn is a blessing as is every dollar we save but not everyone views money the same way. I remember when I was a kid and a UK pound was mega-bucks to me, heck just having 10p would set me up for a couple of days of sweets.
Think back to those years and remember how you felt holding your first pound, dollar or loonie. Your brain automatically tells you, I’m rich! Consider the math. You have nothing and then you have something. You’re now richer than you were minutes ago.
When you’re young being rich means you have money to spend after paying the bills. Not far off the truth although we all define the term rich based on our own financial ideals and lifestyle. This tends to change for many people as they age and for others,not so much.
Set The Stage for Success
All it took for me was to earn my first pound and my brain was in an earnings mode which blossomed into wanting a paper route. After bugging my mum and dad to deliver the newspaper and finally being offered a route the money came rolling in. Don’t laugh, that’s how it felt. I was richer than rich and certainly feeling a success some of my mates couldn’t as they played in the streets.
I was the one who had the money to go to the shop for sweets but only on a very special occasion because dipping into my money could be compared to eating an entire bag of Oreo cookies and regretting it after. I knew once the money was gone, it was gone and I had financial goals too. I wanted to buy myself a car when I was old enough so I could drive myself around town and not rely on anyone.
For a short time I kept a small journal by my bedside where I would tally up the money I earned and spent. At that point I kept it in a big piggy bank and later transferred it to my first bank account. Thumbs up, I was moving to higher places in the world which signaled I was growing up. It was a feeling of accomplishment and responsibility wrapped into one.
I knew that if I sat around watching the television that I wasn’t earning money and that wasn’t going to buy me a car. My parents didn’t dish out cash to me because they were smarter than that. They wanted me to think rich and become my own version of rich through respect and responsibility. I did more than that.
How to train your brain to think rich
I don’t know what will work for you but I will tell you what worked for me because becoming frugal is not something you just do it’s something you want to do or must do. You don’t wake up in the morning and say, “That’s it I’m going to be frugal”, because your brain doesn’t think that way.
Most people think that earning a living, paying bills and having some savings doesn’t require much frugal thinking but it does and most often you don’t even know you are doing it.
Training your brain to think rich means increasing wealth, fulfillment, goal-setting and understanding that happiness starts with-in. You have to appreciate what you have first before you can move to the next level with your money because if you don’t then you are risking regret and upset.
How do rich people think? Well anyone who considers themselves rich whether you have $200 in the bank or millions of dollars you must have taken on a few or all of these think rich mindsets below.
- Respect
- Responsibility
- Happiness
- Education
- Appreciation
- Action/Goals
- Believe
- Inner-strength
- Desire
- Blueprint
I could have went to the candy shop every day after school to buy sweets but I didn’t even though I thought about it. Why wouldn’t a boy who had access to his piggy bank not take the opportunity to bathe in all the sweet luxuries that any young child would devour if offered? I did the work to earn the money and I knew how much effort was needed to save the money I had. It wasn’t a case of someone handing me money and telling me to run off and spend it, this was money I busted my butt to earn.
I was in the process of training my brain to think rich without even realizing what I was doing because there was a lack of experience due to my age and financial knowledge. What I was good at was understanding how to add and subtract. If you really think about a savings plan its simple math, so don’t complicate it.
Growing your riches
As time went on I grew to respect the decisions I was making with my money and how I spent it. Spending only when needed and not giving in to those wants that even a kid would have. The latest and greatest toys, bikes and other gadgets you’d never find in my possession. I grew up in a boot-sale kind of home where anything that we could buy used would be considered before buying new.
I still do the same thing today because I’ve trained my brain to think of ways I can save money over and above retail sales and marketing schemes. This is all part of the think rich grow rich ideals I watered and nurtured in my life day after day.
The only person who knows your rich is YOU so don’t go comparing what you’re doing to someone else. This isn’t about them, it’s about you. These days my brain is still in the think rich mode because I’d rather think rich then think about where I’m going to get my next dollar to feed my family.
Savings is everything!!
Even if you are in that position right now there are resources available in Canada to help you whether it’s help applying for a job, counselling or financial planning strategies such as budgeting. Each step is a step in the right direction!
The key is you must train your brain to guide you in the direction you want to be running in. I say running because too often people take their sweet ass time by becoming too lazy to invest in themselves yet complain they have nothing.
A dollar saved is a dollar YOU thought about holding back just in case you needed it or because you’ve started to train your brain to think rich. Remember every dollar you have is a blessing and every dollar you don’t have is money you need to earn and value in order to grow your wealth.
Always Move Forward
Staying in the past or having a weak financial mindset will only bury you alive. Find what makes you happy even if that means your rich is poor to others.
I wish I could go back and change some of the silly mistakes I made whether it be buying something that turned out to be a lemon, not negotiating deals or learning how to become a better saver. No, I did not budget as I grew up but continued with the think rich theme and married someone with the same mind-set.
Related: How financial Sacrifice helped us become 40 and debt free
Today, we are debt free which happened in our late 30’s by simply thinking rich, training our brain to save and spend less. Both of us earning minimum wage from the time we were legally allowed to work. Into our mid 20’s our earning power increased between $15-$20 an hour. Both of our savings went into real estate investments where we built equity in the home which we went on to sell for profit.
Related: Was I too young to buy my first house?
Moving to Canada set the stage for my new blueprint in life which I took very seriously and still do. I wanted to see myself become successful in a career that I enjoyed and was happy at rather than taking what would pay the bills. Thinking rich was taking on a whole new level for me and because I was willing to start at the bottom and work my way up I know my first step was the smartest step of all, getting in the door and staying.
It wasn’t until I hit my mid to late 30’s that my income level increased to a place I had never imagined. I could earn more but even if I don’t, we’re content with our rich life that we’ve created.
These days I want to spend more time with my family and not work so much that I miss my wife and our son growing up. This is what my think rich blueprint is and was all about.
Our happy-ending is simple and includes, family first followed by;
- Health
- Happiness
- Financial Freedom
Remembering back to the day when I earned my first UK pound and the feeling of how rich I felt earned me a spot on the Walk of Financial Fame. I walk up and down my path every day as I enter and leave our family home, a sanctuary of life.
The next time you earn or find money treat it like you’ve just won the lottery and check those feelings with a fine-tooth comb. You may uncover that all you need find your rich is to believe in yourself and then riches would find you.
Have a great day everyone!
Mr.CBB
Our Net Worth February 2018
Where all the money went:
Not a huge increase this past month but considering that January was even less makes it that much better. I’m hoping to see more gains in the upcoming months. We are nearing the million mark which is great news because we’ve done it without increasing the potential selling price of our house.
We did that on purpose so we left playing room in case the market fluctuated. So far we can safely sell our house for over $600,000 which means we are well past our million dollar goal if we were to sell today and downsize.
With the death of my FIL we’ve been spending money from our accounts to help out my MIL which we will get back shortly. The only money we will have to wait for is the $7000 for the roof which is perfectly fine since her well-being is and the roof over her head is most important to us.
How was your month? Leave me a comment below, I love reading your feedback.
Mr.CBB
Understanding Net Worth
What DoesIndividual Net WorthMean?
Net Worth is a snap shot of your financial health sort of like a picture or debt to net assets. In simple terms it’s atotal of the value of your assets minus your liabilities.
We credit the growth of our net worth due to patience, perseverance, using a monthly budget and not giving up. Your numbers may go up and down but don’t let the numbers scare you rather understand why and move on.
If you would like to use our budget I offer a FREE downloadable budget which I created and that you can use at home just like we do. I don’t charge for it because I want you to save money not spend more!
There are tonnes of other free printable lists offered at Canadian Budget Binder to help you achieve some of those financial goals and build your net worth.
Determining net worth
Figuring out net worth is fairly easy as long as you know your personal numbers or monthly finances which means you need to do your homework. Net Worth is simplyadding up all your assets(what you own) thentaking away your liabilities(what you owe) which will give you a net worth number.
Understanding your net worth will help you determine if you are on track to meeting or beating your personal financial goals. Itdoesn’tget any easier than that.
How to Determine Net Worth?
Net Worth = Assets – Liabilities
Calculate net worth
Do you know how to calculate your own Net Worth? We like to calculate our net worth every month so we know if we are still on track. Some people calculate it yearly or quarterly but it’s up to you and how informed you want to stay when it comes to your financial health.
Net Worth is only an estimate and not everyone uses the same type of figures to tally it up. Some of you may not include vehicles like we do or leave out assets inside the home like we have. You might be that person that believes that your house should be excluded. It depends on what you want to calculate or what you can sell today and make money on for tomorrow.
Why not go ahead andcalculate your own using our Free Money saving ToolNet worth Calculator (Canadian Budget Binder 2012)
Why you should set financial goals
Below is our progression chart towards our goal of a million dollars net worth which should happen according to our net worth calculations by Mid August 2017 (this year). Note: Since we went on holidays and spent money buying a new truck in 2017 this goal has now changed and will likely take us into 2018. I will have a more accurate update shortly.
Setting goals are the only way we work towards achieving what we want to get done as a couple around the house and in our financial life. I know that without them we would be flying by the seat of our pants which wouldn’t work for us.
Our financial numbers
Whenbudgetinganything is possible, we are proof of that although we still have a long way to go in our journey. These are our numbers and our goals, not a means of comparison towards your own goals to others target goals.
We don’t care how much money others makeor if they have a high net worth or if it is lower than ours as it’snot a competition. I hope our experiences perhaps will help guide you along your financial path working towards debt freedom.
Different financial paths
Not everyone has the same path in life. Some of you may have had to start over like I did or go to school a second time and now have OSAP loans to pay back.
Others may have divorced, lost money in the stock market or other investments, suffered job loss, fell ill or injured on the job etc. but you can’t let that stop you from achieving your financial goals.
Some of you may have been given trust funds, paid-for homes, paid educations or perks in life that give you a financial kick-start and that’s OK too. Remember what I said,“It’s not about how much money you make, it’s how you save it”.
No one cares about your money as much as you do so don’t waste your energy trying.
The only reason people accumulate wealth is because they know how to save or invest it wisely even if they did inherit money orwin the lottery. The smallest improvements should mean big strides in working towards reaching your goals.
Sometimes we have to fail in order to learn and we’ve all been there.Money can be an evil force for some people especially those who have a negative attitude towards their own financial situation.
I urge you to be optimistic and little by little with determination you too should see improvements, if you want that to happen.
Net worth updates 2018
Click the links below to read 2017 net worth updates to see how we made out following our own budgeting and investing rules.
- January 2018
That’s all for this months net worth update but please check in at the beginning of April 2018 to see how we made out in March 2018 with our financial portfolio.
~Mr.CBB
“It’s Not About How Much Money You Make It’s How You Save It“
Don’t forget to Subscribe to CBB and Check out our 2012-2018> Monthly Budget Updates
